Car dumper sampling apparatus



Dec. 5, 1950 A. BUR 2,533,090

CAR DUMPER SAMPLING APPARATUS Filed May 17, 1948 4 Sh eets-Sheec- 1 IN VEN TOR.

Dec. 5, 1950 A. BUR 2,533,090

CAR DUMPER SAMPLING APPARATUS Filed May 1.7, 1948 .4 Sheets-Sheet 2 WW MW 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed May 17, 1948 INVENTOR.

Dec. 5, 1950 B CAR DUMPER SAMPLING APPARATUS 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed May 17, 1948 INVENTOR. @A Q 711M Patented Dec. 5, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CAR DUMPER SAMPLING APPARATUS Armand Bur, Cleveland, Ohio Application May 17, 1948; Serial No. 27,566

'7 Claims. 1

Purchasers of large quantities of coal usually obtain their requirements in carlo'ad lots. Each earload of coal is sampled to determinequality (B. t. u.) and the common method of doing this is to employ the core method. The core method is a manual operation, costly, and otherwise disadvantageous because of the difficulty of pounding the core pipe through run of mine coal, losses of part of sampling on extracting the pipe from the coal in the car, necessity for men to work out in bad weather, and smallness of the gross samples obtained, etc.

My invention involves the provision of sampling apparatus which operates in conjunction with the dumping of the car at the receiving yard, the cycle of dumping being used to cause samples of the dumped material to pass into one or more sampling pipes, as the car is dumped, and from these pipes said samples are automatically delivered to the exit of the said pipes as the car dumper returns the car to its upright travel position.

By combining with the sampling pipes a grinder at a side of the car dumping unit, the samples taken in the car dumping operation are discharged from the sampling pipes directly into the grinder for immediate preparation ior laboratory testing by the usual methods. The former time's-taking system of dumping the core samples into buckets and carrying the same to the grinder is entirely eliminated.

A special feature of the invention resides in my designing of the sampling pipes peculiarly, and mounting them on the car dumper in such a way that the receiving openings of the sampling pipes are disposed to become effective to receive material at various degrees of the angle of flow of the material being dumped from the car in its dumping operation. Thus there may be controlled the points in the bulk of the material in the car at which the material will be received in the sampling pipes, and a more representative sampling or the contents of a car may be ob tai'ned, something highly desirable to be achieved in this art.

Of course my invention is adapted for use in the sampling of ore, chemicals, and other materials such as may be shi ped in carload lots and dumped from the cars by the common type of car dumper generally used today.

Othei 'featili'es' of my invention will appear more fully on reference to the following detail description, and to the annexed drawings, in which;

Figure 1 is an 9116. view bit a car dumper f the construction to which my invention is applied.

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view taken through the dumping unit and showing my sampling apparatus as when joined thereto for obtaining the necessary samples representative of the bulk of material poured or flowed from the car mounted in the dumper, when the dumper is rotated to cause dumping action of the car.

Figure 3 is a view in side elevation showing the arrangement of the various features of my sampling apparatus as when mounted upon and adjacent to the car dumping unit.

Figure 4 is a fragmentary sectional view showing the delivery end of the sampling pipes and the adjacent chute which leads to the grinder, the view also illustrating automatic gate means for opening the delivery end of the sampling pipe unit when the car dumper is restored to its normal position with the emptied car upright and ready to travel off of the same.

Figure 5 is a sectional view taken at right angles to the view of Figure 4 and illustrating more clearly the spring members which are connected with the automatically operating gate for the delivery end of the sample pipe unit.

Figure 6 is a sectional View fragmentary in nature illustrating specifically the receiving end of one of the sampling pipes equipped with the spaced sample receiving openings.

Figures 7,18, and 9 are diagrammatic views illustrating the car dumper rotated to different positions in its of dumping movement, whereby the sample receiving openings of one or more sampling pipes are brought into play at different times controlled by the angle of flow of material from the car incident to the rotative action of the dumper unit.

In my accompanying drawings I have illustrated a conventional type of car dumper in order to show the combination therewith of my sampling apparatus according to my present invention. As seen in Figures 1, 2, and 3, said car dumper is largely made up of the circular dumping body or frame generally indicated at A, the same equipped with a suitable track section comprising the tracks I mounted upon a laterally slidable base frame 2, said track section of course supporting the wheels 3 of the freight car 4 when the car has been moved into place on the dumper A and is ready to be rotated for the dumping operation.

As shown in Figure 2, the dumper A is equipped with the customary control mechanism and grappling features for engaging the car 4 in order to maintain the same rigidly held in the dumper A during the dumping operation. The details of the car dumper as illustrated are immaterial to my invention because they are conventional and well known to those versed in the art of dumping machinery of this class. I do not, therefore describe such details for the reason above stated.

As well seen in Figure 2 of my drawings, my sampling apparatus comprises a sampling pipe unit which is made up of one or more sampling pipes 5 that are mounted rigidly upon the dumper A at one side of the latter, being suitably supported by bracket and other attachment means of any substantial nature to maintain the sampling pipes in place on the dumper when the said dumper is rotated for dumping operation and for restoring it to its normal position with the emptied car upright.

The sampling pipe 5 may be one or more in number, but I illustrate, as seen best in Figure 3, the employment of three of these pipes, said pipes converging toward their lower ends into a delivery or discharge portion 6, the open discharge end of which is disposed relatively close to a chute i that is mounted on a grinder El which is positioned at the side of the dumper on which the sampling pip-es are arranged and supported in any suitable stationary manner alongside the dumping machine. The grinder 8, seen in Figure 3, may be a type of such machine operated by a suitable motor 9 and is a conventional grinder such as employed for reducing the materials received therein from the sampling pipes to a condition of preparation preliminary to laboratory testing of the materials. In respect to coal. the materials are tested for their E. t. u.s after the known manner of testing such materials.

I may provide at the lower end of the sampling pipes and arranged to close and open the discharge portion 6 of the same, a sliding gate iii having at its lower end a lateral abutment member ll adapted to engage a bracket [2 which is attached to and extends downwardly from the chute 7 leading to the grinder 8. As seen in Figure 5, the lower end or" the gate it is connected by means of springs l3 oithe coil type to outwardly extending bracket members it on opposite sides of the discharge or delivery spout 6. The normal action of the spring i3 is to pull upwardly on the gate if] for closing said gate and maintaining the discharge portion of the sp at 5 into which the lower delivery ends of the pipes 5 merge, closed during the dumping rotation of the dumper A. As the dumper A is restored to its normal position, the non-dumping position, the abutment member I I on the gate it] strikes the bracket 52 and automatica-ly opens the discharge spout 5 to enable the passage of sampled materials to the chute l of the grinder 8.

Referring to Figure 6 of my drawings, it will be noted that I provide in the uppermost sample receiving ends 5a of the sampling pipes 5, at the side of these sample receiving portions, a plurality of sample receiving openings generally designated at 15. In my illustration of my invention I have shown two of these openings l5 and they are disposed in spaced relation longitudinally of the extension 50. of each of the pipes 5. The location of the openings B5 of the sampling pipes 5 is especially designed to control from what portions of the bulked material in the car i the samples will be taken. In other Words, as will be apparent upon reference to the diagrammatic views Figures 7, 3, and 9, certain of the surface materia s of the load in the car 4, by reason of the angle of flow of materials during the initial dumping of the dumper A may pass by the lowermost of the 4 receiving openings 15 so that the samples to be taken will not enter the lower openings l5 at the beginning of the dumping flow. Then at a certain point in the depth of materials in the car 4 being dumped, the materials will begin to enter the lowermost openings I5 and fill the adjacent portion of the pipe extension 5a of the pipe 5 so as to be contained in the latter. Then for some time during further dumping action of the dumper A, as the car 4 is tilted and discharges its load, the materials will flow by the pipe extension Ea of each of the pipes 5 because the said pipes are closed at a point between the lower opening and the upper opening, and no samplings of the materials will enter the openings l5 at such time. Then when the movement of rotation of the dumper A proceeds to a greater degree, all as illustrated by the diagrammatic views Figures 7, 8, and 9, the angle of flow of the materials will be such that, we will say, near the bottom of the materials bulked in the car 4, a certain portion of the materials as samples will be received in the upper end openings it": of the pipes 55, as seen in Figure 6. It is evident from the foregoing that simply by the proper positioning of the openings iii in the extensions 5a of the pipes 5 it is possible to predetermine from what portions of the bulked materials in the car 4, as the said materials flow from the car in the dumping operation, the sample may be taken. If desired, the openings :5 of one of the pipe extensions 5a may be differently located from the openings of an adjacent of said pipe extensions 511, all with a view conducive to obtaining a representative sampling of the entire contents of the load of car, which sampling is to be tested in the laboratory for its particular quality.

Of course the samplings or" the material in the load of material being dumped by the rotation of the car i in the dumper A will be retained in the pipe extensions 5a during the cycle or" approximately i5il rotation of the dumper A for the complete dumping of the load of material. This dumping cycle is a clockwise movement of the dumper A to extent of approximately while the car ii is mounted in the dumper. The car Ll having been emptied, the dumping rotation movement is reversed and the dumper A is restored to its normal position such as shown in Figures 1 and 2. Incidental to such movement, the previously lowered extensions or upper portions of the pipes 5, lowered during the dumping operation, are caused to be elevated or restored to approximately the ultimate normal positions assumed thereby as shown in Figure 2, and under these eonditio the materials that have been received in the upper ends of the pipes such as the extensions will then gravitate to the lower ends of the pipes 5 and become merged in the discharge spout 6, which of course is c osed by the gate iii until the sampling pipe assembly reaches the position which is shown in Figure 2, whereupon the gate id is automatically caused to assume an open position and the samplings of the material in the car at the discharge portion or spout 6 of the sampling pipe unit will be caused to automatically pass into the chute "i and to the grinder 3 where they will be promptly ground into the appropriate condition in which they are prepared for laboratory testing.

Of course it be understood that, desired, a manual gate of the general type shown as comprising the body it of the gate illus trated, may be employed and under such conditions a suitable lever may be availed of for the operation of the gate at such time as the men in charge of the sampling operation may wish to effect discharge of the materials from the spout 6 to the chute 1 and the grinder 8.

At It in Figure 1 is shown the usual operating motor for rotating the dumper A through the usual driving shaft and gearing connected to turn the body or frame of the dumper.

As seen best in Figures 2 and 6 to 9 inclusive, a divider plate 17 is employed for obtaining clear separation of samplings entering the openings l5 of the pipes 5.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is

1. In combination, a car dumper, a sampling pipe mounted thereon and movable therewith to a material receiving position and having a sample receiving opening arranged to receive a sampling of material flowing from a car mounted on the dumper, and means to operate the car dumper to cause material to flow from a car thereon into said opening, and then moving the dumper to a non-dumping position conditioning the sampling pipe to discharge a received sample of material.

2. A machine as claimed in claim 1, in which the pipe opening is disposed in a position such that it receives the sample of material flowing from the car at a predetermined angle of the flow of such material in the dumping movement of the dumper.

3. In combination, a rotative car dumper, a sampling pipe mounted thereon and having a plurality of sample receiving openings disposed so as to separately receive materials incident to rotative dumping movement of the dumper, at difierent angles of the flow of such materials from a car mounted on the dumper, and means to rotate the car dumper to cause material to flow from a car thereon into said openings.

4. A machine as claimed in claim 1, in which the operating means comprises instrumentalities to rotate the dumper and said sampling pipe in one direction for causing the materials to enter the pipe and rotate the dumper in an opposite direction to discharge the materials from the pipe.

5. A machine as claimed in claim 1, combined with automatic means to discharge samples from the pipe when the dumper is returned to nondumping position, said dumper operating means being operable to restore the dumper to nondumping position, after discharge of the material in the sampling pipe.

6. In combination, a car dumper comprising a dumping unit normally positioned for receiving a car thereon containing materials the samples of which are to be taken, means for rotating said dumper from its normal car receiving position to a position for tilting and dumping a car of material carried thereon, and for restoring the dumper to its normal car receiving position, a sampling pipe mounted upon the dumper in a normally upwardly inclined position and provided with a sample receiving opening at its upper end operable to receive material dumped by the dumper as the dumper rotates to tilt a car of such material in the direction of the upper end of said sampling pipe, said sampling pipe being movable with the dumper so that upon restoration of the latter to its normal position aforesaid the sample contents of the pipe will be gravitatable therein for discharging action from the pipe.

7. The combination of parts claimed in claim 6 combined with a discharge control gate for the lower discharge end of the sampling pipe, and means on the rotative car dumper for controlling the operation of said gate to release the contents of the sampling pipe after a sample, of material is received therein.

ARMAND BUR.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,249,491 Ramsay Dec. 11, 1917 1,571,632 McFarland Feb. 2, 1926 1,591,092 McGregor July 6, 1926 1,890,199 Thorsten Dec. 6, 1932 2,105,262 Price Jan. 11, 1938 2,242,819 Fanner May 20, 1941 

